Various machines and methods have been used in the past to cut a strip of material into segments for subsequent applications. Depending upon the intended use of the segments of strip material and the composition of the material itself, such machines and methods have been of varying complexity and cost. For example, in the paper industry highly complex machinery is used to cut oversize rolls of paper stock into commercially attractive sizes. In the metals industry other types of machines are used to cut metal strips into plates and foils, for example. Rather commonly, the strip materials are cut into rectangular sheets.
For some applications, however, the strip material must be cut into segments having non-rectangular shapes in which the leading and trailing edges of individual segments are at different angles to the axis of the strip. Equipment for cutting such non-rectangular shapes has tended to be complex and expensive; thus, a need has continued to exist for a simple, inexpensive apparatus for making these types of strip segments.